Who’s ready for the first official announcement of Mobile World Congress 2013? Well, Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Note 8.0. As we saw earlier today, it’s basically the Galaxy Note 2 stretched out to the 8-inch form factor you see above. The Galaxy Note 8.0 will be following the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Note 10.1, and bringing along with it the S Pen and a bunch of other goodies. As far as specs go, here’s what the Galaxy Note 8.0 is featuring:
- Processor: 1.6 GHz quad-core Exynos 4412
- Display: 8-inch WXGA display (1280 x 800 at 189 ppi)
- Operating system: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
- Network: HSPA+ 21Mbps (850/900/1900/2100)
- Camera: 5 megapixel (rear), 1.3-megapixels (front)
- Video: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, DivX (1080p full HD video @ 30 fps)
- Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, AC3, FLAC; 3.5mm headphone jack
- GPS: aGPS + GLONASS (3G version)
- Connectivity: 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4 and 5 GHz; WiFi Direct; AllShareCast; Bluetooth 4.0; USB 2.0
- Sensors: Accelerometer; Digital compass; Proximity sensor
- Memory/Storage: 2GB RAM, 32/64GB storage; microSD card (up to 64 GB)
- Dimensions: 210.8 x 135.9 x 7.95
- Weight: 338 grams
- Battery: 4,600 mAh
- S Pen optimized features: S Note, S Planner, e-mail with handwriting integration; Quick Command; Easy Clip; Photo Note; Paper Artist; Air View; Popup Note; Popup Video; Shape Match; Formula Match; Idea Sketch
- Sharing Features: AllShare Play; AllShare Cast (Wifi Display mirroring and extension); AllShare Framework
So who’s ready to see what the Galaxy Note 8.0 is bringing with it for bloat ware? Quite a bit including:
- Samsung Apps
- Samsung Kies/Kies Air
- TouchWiz/Samsung Live Panel
- Samsung Hub; Game Hub; Learning Hub; Readers Hub; Music Hub; Video Hub; Media Hub (U.S. Only)
- Samsung ChatOn mobile communication service (version 2.0)
- Smart Stay, Direct Call
- Page Buddy/Tag Buddy/Word Buddy
- Along with all the Google services.
The Galaxy Note 8.0 is going to be available worldwide in the second quarter of this year, which starts April 1st. That includes Europe, Korea, North America, South East Asia, South West Africa, the Middle Eat, China, Taiwan and Latin America. I’d expect this to be available on T-Mobile or AT&T since it is HSPA+ connectivity only, and not LTE. But we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on that. The S Pen is included which means you’ll be able to use apps like paper artist, Awesome Note, Samsung’s Chat messaging service and more. The Galaxy Note 8.0 also has multi-window, just like on the Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy Note 2. It’s a good looking tablet, despite the physical buttons. Now we’ll just have to wait and see how much Sammy is going to charge for it.
As you can see in the image above, you can actually use the Galaxy Note 8.0 to make calls as well. So is it a tablet or phone? Well it looks to be both. Many people thought the Galaxy Note 2 was to big to be used as a phone, what about the Galaxy Note 8.0? Imagine holding that up to your ear for calls?
So the Galaxy Note 8.0 is now official. How many of you are going to make this your next tablet? Let us know in the comments below.
Update: The Galaxy Note 8.0 will be coming to the US with different specs. So it could be coming to Verizon/Sprint.
